Hollyhocks
It seems to me that nothing is quite as beautifull as an old white washed fence with a cluster of blooming Hollyhocks in front of it.

In this case I found the background glass first before deciding what I was going to build. It was a beautiful Uroboros Fracture Streamer White, Pink and Green. When I first saw it I thought it was way to pretty for me but then thought of the Hollyhocks and brought it home till I could get to the design.

I had alreay gone this far before thinking of adding this to my site. I have a separate assembly table. Best thing I ever did, but do wish it was a bit bigger.

Close up of panel to the left soldered. This is the back part of the finished panel. I still need to add the stems and more blooms before patena is put on.

My cutting table mess.
And of course the coffee that keeps me going.

This is the top portion of the window on the light table.

I tape the pieces tgether so I can see how it is looking. And yes that is blood! I never know how I do it half the time but there is a little blood spilt for every window.

After I foil the pieces I place them on the assembly table and hold them together tight with push pins berfore I start to solder.

This portion of the panel is not quite finished A few more pieces to add. It is only soldered on one side at this point till all the pieces are cut. Easier to add and subtract as I feel I need to.

Close up of the foiled pieces.

Close up of the soldered pieces.

More blood drawn today while spinning the wire.
(Note to self - Bug John about the wire spinner he is designing for me)
And if you care about your nails, do not become a stained glass artists.
It rips them to shreds.

I have spun the wire and fitted it to
the piece.
I tin the wire and solder
it to the back of the bottom panel.

I use foam pieces to hold up the
corners so I don't have to worry
about the wire putting too much
pressure on the bottom panel.

It is all asembled and am just giving it a wash to get the flux off of it.

After it dried I blackened the solder with patena. Absolutely everything gets a black patena. Shows the glass up better.

The polish compound has now dried and only need to polish. Harder than it looks as so many levels to polish under and over. Have to bee very carefull not to put too much pressure and break anything at this point. Can be very frustrating. Almost done....